Dave Himmelfarb

This chapter examines the implications of tensions, contradictions, and contestations, and traces the trajectory of simultaneous economic development and environmental protection on Mount Elgon from the British colonial era to the present. It examines the coevolution or simultaneous development of both colonial conservation and colonial economic policy in the region, the legacies of which continue to impinge upon the contemporary nature of conservation governance. The chapter explains how the de jure expropriation of land and forests as state property during the colonial era has enabled widespread physical evictions for conservation after independence, and laid the institutional foundation of the land and boundary conflicts that continue to date. It examines the diverse policies and conservation 'tools' that have been introduced in this context of unresolved conflict, from carbon offset forestry, to collaborative resource management agreements, to more recent experimentation with payments for avoided deforestation in the form of community revolving funds.